Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Everyone in their circle was saying that before Zhou Yu broke off the engagement, he had been keeping a stand-in who resembled Xia Wanzhi.

After the engagement was called off, photos of Sun Lingzhi were dug up as well.

Back then, Yun Li had been far too curious about just how much this woman supposedly looked like Xia Wanzhi to have Zhou Yu so utterly bewitched.

But once she saw the photos, she realized Zhou Yu’s taste was nothing special.

The only thing Sun Lingzhi probably had in common with Xia Wanzhi was the character “zhi” in their names.

Could a single “zhi” really be enough to stir Zhou Yu’s lust?

Of course not.

Men were, after all, vulgar creatures.

What seduced Zhou Yu was not only the allure Sun Lingzhi had accumulated over years of working in pleasure venues, but also the desire Zhou Yu had been suppressing deep down for far too long.

Encouragement from outsiders, combined with a man’s desire.

From that moment on, Zhou Yu and Xia Wanzhi had already begun walking down opposite paths.

And Sun Lingzhi, all because of one “zhi,”

had climbed into Zhou Yu’s bed.

Xia Wanzhi recognized Sun Lingzhi only because she had seen her photos before.

Strangely enough, Xia Wanzhi was usually terrible with faces, yet she recognized her at a glance.

Perhaps it was the deliberately imitated outfit, the intentionally dyed light-brown hair, and the carefully styled curls.

All of it was an imitation of Xia Wanzhi.

Xia Wanzhi’s gaze was indifferent. She lowered her eyes slightly and looked at her, feeling only a trace of pity for how pathetic she was.

Sun Lingzhi looked haggard. Standing before Xia Wanzhi and Yun Li, she was crying so hard her face was streaked with tears. Seeing Xia Wanzhi’s expression remain calm as she turned to leave, Sun Lingzhi hurriedly reached out and grabbed her, pleading, “Miss Xia, please help me…”

Yun Li’s expression darkened. She was just about to pry Sun Lingzhi away when the woman before them dropped straight to her knees with a thud.

Yun Li: “…”

Great. A difficult one.

“Is there something wrong with your brain? Coming here to beg her-what kind of logic is that?” Yun Li was so angry she almost laughed.

Xia Wanzhi could not accept such a grand gesture, so she silently moved two steps to the right. “If you have something to say, say it.”

At that, Sun Lingzhi became so agitated that she shuffled forward on her knees and knelt in front of Xia Wanzhi again, lifting her head to look at Xia Wanzhi with those pitiful eyes. “I’m pregnant. Two months along. The child is Zhou Yu’s.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Xia Wanzhi moved another two steps to the left.

“No…” Sun Lingzhi began, then burst into tears again. “Miss Xia, please listen to me. I came today to beg you to save my child. Zhou Yu… the Zhou Family, they want me to abort the baby. The Zhou Family won’t let me marry into the family. I don’t have to marry Zhou Yu, but I can’t lose this child…”

Sun Lingzhi said it all in one breath. “Zhou Yu still loves you. Zhou Yu loves you so much… Miss Xia, please help me talk to him. Ask him to let me keep this child. As long as you say it, he’ll listen to you. He definitely will…”

Before she could finish, the hand clutching Xia Wanzhi’s clothes was flung away.

This time, Xia Wanzhi did it herself.

“You wrinkled my clothes.” As Xia Wanzhi spoke, she smoothed out the creased spot.

The last shred of her patience had been exhausted.

“I think you’ve lost your mind.” Yun Li clicked her tongue and pulled Xia Wanzhi behind her, preventing this deranged woman from grabbing at her again. “You want Wanzi to go talk to Zhou Yu? You really have the nerve to say that.”

Xia Wanzhi nodded in agreement. “I don’t think you’re asking me to save your child. I think you’re trying to deliver Zhou Yu’s head to me on a platter.”

Yun Li couldn’t help laughing.

Xia Wanzhi remained unmoved. She had truly let go.

Whether it was Zhou Yu or this woman in front of her claiming to be pregnant with Zhou Yu’s child, to Xia Wanzhi, they had long since become irrelevant.

“The child belongs to the two of you. Whether it stays or goes is your business. It has nothing to do with me. Asking me to go find Zhou Yu-unless you think he’s lived too long. The man at my house is a petty one. If he finds out I’m meddling in other people’s business, he’ll probably twist your child’s father’s skull right off.”
Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes and glanced at her. After weighing it for a moment, she still added one more sentence. “You chose this path yourself, so you bear the consequences yourself. Sun Lingzhi, the only reason I let you finish talking today is because I’m in a good mood. If you keep pestering me, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Should she pity her?

Xia Wanzhi couldn’t.

Back then, that video call had made her catch Zhou Yu and this woman in the middle of their affair. At the time, Xia Wanzhi had been heartbroken.

But she didn’t hate this woman.

Because it was precisely that video call that had let her truly see what kind of man the childhood friend she had known for more than twenty years really was behind her back.

“Xia Wanzhi!” Sun Lingzhi staggered to her feet and grabbed her again. “You can’t leave. Please don’t go…”

“I know you hate me, but what I’m saying is true!” Sun Lingzhi’s gaze was firm, her lips trembling as she spoke. “Zhou Yu is inside… I’ll bring him out. Just say in front of him that he should let me keep the baby. He’ll listen to you. I’m begging you!”

Xia Wanzhi frowned.

“I’ll go find him right now…”

“I won’t help you,” Xia Wanzhi said coldly.

The crying stopped abruptly.

Xia Wanzhi enunciated every word. “I don’t hate you. Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

“Wanzi.” Xie Qiyan’s voice sounded from behind her. Xia Wanzhi didn’t know when he had gotten there. She only saw him walk forward, his gaze sweeping lightly over Sun Lingzhi, who lowered her head in panic, before he calmly took Xia Wanzhi’s hand and led her inside. “Let’s go back. The bride came looking for you to toast.”

“I haven’t gone to the restroom yet,” Xia Wanzhi said with an awkward smile.

Yun Li smacked her left palm with her fist. “Tsk, I completely forgot. Come on, come on…”

Xie Qiyan nodded. “I’ll wait here.”

Xia Wanzhi couldn’t help laughing.

With Xie Qiyan watching over things here, no one without eyes would dare come up to bother her.

When they returned to the guest seats, Xia Wanzhi had just sat down when she saw Xie Lin bringing his new wife over to offer a toast.

It wasn’t Xia Wanzhi’s first time meeting Luo Biyu. She was a woman of few words. When she came forward to toast them, she called them Big Brother and Sister-in-law.

Xie Qiyan didn’t react much, so Xia Wanzhi could only nod and smile, saying a few words of blessing.

“The bride is the most important person on her wedding day, and you couldn’t even give her that much face?” After the couple left, Jiang Baichuan teased him, then looked at Xia Wanzhi, putting one down while praising the other. “Good thing Wanzi was there to hold up your dignity. Say what you want, having a wife really is great.”

He had probably been toasted one too many times and was running his mouth. Yun Li scolded him lightly and swapped his drink for juice. “Shut up. It’s not even your big day. Why are you drinking so much?”

Jiang Baichuan was shameless. Under the table, he laced his fingers with Yun Li’s, his face full of happiness. “Who says it isn’t? Attending a wedding banquet with my girlfriend is a big day too.”

Besides, when it really was his and her big day, there was no way he would drink too much.

Xia Wanzhi smiled from the side, and at the same time, she sized up Xie Qiyan to see if he had drunk too much.

Xie Qiyan looked as composed as ever. He spun the lazy Susan, picked up a can of Coke, hooked his right index finger under the tab, and opened it with ease.

The whole movement was clean and swift, so handsome that Xia Wanzhi was dazzled.

Seeing the unconcealable admiration on Xia Wanzhi’s face, Jiang Baichuan inwardly mocked Xie Qiyan for showing off again. Irritated enough to laugh, he said, “So you’ve landed a man who can open a can one-handed. May I ask how Mrs. Xie feels about that?”

Before Xia Wanzhi could reply, Xie Qiyan spoke first, a smile that wasn’t quite a smile on his face. “Opening a can with one hand is nothing. I can also twist off someone else’s skull cap with one hand.”

Yun Li burst out laughing. Seeing how excessively serious Xie Qiyan looked, she didn’t dare laugh too openly and could only bury her face against Jiang Baichuan’s shoulder, trying to hold it in.

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

How did she feel? What was there to feel?

She didn’t dare think about it.

Jiang Baichuan, completely missing the point, clicked his tongue and said in a chilly tone, “Ah, how cruel.”